We can only change travel behaviour successfully, if we understand the attitudes, perceptions and motivations of those we seek to influence.
Since most people's travel patterns are habitual, and ingrained in daily activities, understanding the decision-making processes behind individual's transport mode choices is an essential precursor to designing and delivering programmes that evoke positive changes.
We thrive on exploring issues, developing solutions and rigorously testing ‘what works’ when influencing travel decisions. Our people-centred approach builds on a deep understanding of the psychology of human behaviour and applies leading edge techniques that have been tested in commercial research for clients in highly competitive markets.
Our team has the flexibility, imagination and attention to detail needed to lead complex research projects and analyse multiple data sources so as to produce solid evidence bases. These inform our recommendations that help clients achieve their objectives and evaluate the impact of programmes, campaigns and transport improvements.
Encouraging individuals to change their behaviour by providing personalised travel advice (PTP) is now an established method of engagement, but in 2007 it was a new concept, and one which the Department for Transport (DfT) wanted to better understand as a method of reducing reliance on private cars.
We undertook an in-depth literature review, interviews with leading practitioners, and convened an expert panel to carry out a global review of PTP best practice. Our detailed knowledge of 'what works' was documented in our Research Report. The Practitioners Guide we produced alongside the Summary Report, provided a blueprint for planning, designing, delivering, and evaluating successful PTP interventions across different contexts. We continue to draw upon the findings when delivering our advice and independent evaluation of behaviour change projects and programmes.
The Department for Transport commissioned ITP to research the effectiveness of car share and car club schemes in closed communities. The intention was to understand best practice and inform future schemes.
We led the research programme; which included an initial desk study, detailed site reviews, and interviews with leading practitioners. The study's findings have been widely regarded as critical to improving the knowledge base and industry understanding of what makes an effective scheme. The ‘good practice guide’ we produced has informed the development and delivery of future car share schemes and car clubs across the UK.
ITP was the lead author of Transport for London's car share guide for businesses, which was based upon a comprehensive review of real-world business car share performance and case studies.
The work involved an examination of best practice in the delivery of car share schemes across London, and the production of focused guidance to improve the future performance of car share initiatives.
The guide has been widely disseminated across London, and to businesses across the UK, and is regularly cited as the key source of information for car share scheme developers.
The Mayor’s Transport Strategy sets out the city’s Vision Zero commitment, to eliminate all deaths and serious injuries from London’s transport system by 2041.
ITP were appointed by Transport for London (TfL) to undertake research to fill the gaps in understanding around pedestrian behaviour and risk, how this has changed as a result of technology and to develop light touch street design to reduce road danger. We identified trends in behaviour through observational surveys, analysed casualty data and carried out an international literature review to identify responses that had been trialled across the world.
Our work complemented TfL’s wider road danger reduction approach which seeks to reduce the sources of danger to people walking, such as high vehicle speeds, traffic volumes and vehicle design.
This study was commissioned by Transport for London on behalf of the Greater London Authority to identify the key causes of increased road congestion in Central, Inner and Outer London over the last five years. Our task was to identify actions to address London’s congestion problems, whilst delivering the Mayor’s vision.
Our analysis showed that congestion had been worsening across a variety of indicators, including travel speeds and journey reliability. Recurrent demands on the network were the principal cause of congestion, but roadworks, accidents and breakdowns played a notable but lesser role. The final report contained 22 recommendations for action by TfL, the London Boroughs, Central Government and other stakeholders, focusing on managing travel demand and promoting modal shift.
In 2001 the Greater Nottinghamshire Partnership, commissioned ITP to carry out their ‘Big Ideas’ survey to gain a deeper insight into perceptions of transport in the Nottingham urban area. These surveys were repeated in 2003, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2012 and 2015 to understand changing attitudes over time.
The 2015 surveys focused on understanding perceptions of the quality of existing local transport options, satisfaction with local transport policy objectives and the use of transport services. We worked with market research partners to undertake 2,000 on-street surveys and 200 business surveys. The findings from our report were used in Nottingham City Council's marketing campaigns, informed the city's fourth Local Transport Plan and fed into the evaluation of their LSTF programme.
Lambeth Council carried out a public consultation to understand resident's perceptions of the proposed Liveable Neighbourhoods schemes. Consultation responses were collected through the Commonplace platform and we were commissioned to analyse the outputs of the survey. In doing so, we created a detailed and dynamic coding framework to enable a thematic analysis of the responses.
We produced maps and graphs to visualise the key findings and prepared a series of PowerPoint presentations for the Council to share with local communities to explain how people’s comments were being highlighted and addressed.
Transport for London (TfL) wanted to improve sustainable transport connections along a corridor of the transport network between Hackney and the Isle of Dogs which connected Victoria Park, Mile End and Limehouse. The proposed measures were to improve active travel and public transport, connect with Quietway 2 and Cycle Superhighway 2 to enhance cycle connectivity, and contribute to the Bow Liveable Neighbourhood proposals. ITP analysed the public consultation responses which involved reviewing closed and open questions, requiring a range of quantitative and qualitative analysis methods. Our work enabled TfL to effectively understand the overall message from a wide range of consultation responses.
From 2013 to 2015 Centro delivered the Smart Network, Smarter Choices sustainable transport project in the West Midlands. It sought to improve sustainable transport options across the region to encourage more people using sustainable transport
We set up, managed and engaged with a stakeholder panel of 165 high-level policymakers and businesses across the region to evaluate the programme’s impact. Key research questions focused on behaviour change, attitudes to sustainable travel, employment opportunities, business confidence and perceived impacts of the programme. Our impact evaluation report fed into the future development of transport options in the West Midlands, providing insights into the needs and expectations of local people